


An Awkward Beginning

by chelztoddbrooke



Series: The Road To The Goat Farm [1]
Category: Spartacus Series (TV), Spartacus: Vengeance, Spartacus: War of the Damned
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst, Awkwardness, Eventual Romance, Flirting, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Goat Farm, M/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-13
Updated: 2017-09-13
Packaged: 2018-12-27 17:52:50
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,824
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12086253
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chelztoddbrooke/pseuds/chelztoddbrooke
Summary: When the person at the table looked up, Agron noticed two things. One: that was most definitely a man. Two: that man was most definitely the most beautiful man he had ever seen.This is the story of how Agron and Nasir meet.The prequel to my Goat Farm universe. Definitely can stand alone. Indefinitely incomplete. But please read, I promise you'll enjoy it. xo





	An Awkward Beginning

**Author's Note:**

> So I have been threatening you all with a prequel to the "goat farm" universe I have created. And here is the beginning of it. The very beginning. I am not sure how regular additions are going to be, but there will be many. It's going to be more of a connected series of one shots. Some fluffy, some angsty, some filthy...a little bit of something for everyone. I am so excited about this project and any and all encouragement is welcome!

 

“Ok, listen up,” Agron Rihn addressed the half a dozen students sitting before him. Everyone turned to look at him except the two girls in the back, whispering to each other. He waited a beat before trying again. “Listen…” he repeated drawing the word out, briefly dropping into a German accent that he rarely graced his lips outside of family gatherings, but he knew it would grab their attention. The two girl’s heads snapped forward. “Thank you, ladies,” he stated with a pointed look. Both girls giggled and blushed deeply. Agron smirked and rolled his eyes. He wasn’t dumb. He’d been a high school teacher long enough to know the way students gossiped about the teachers. It was a well-known fact that Mr. Rihn was considered one of the “hot” teachers. Agron found it amusing and if he had to admit it he would say they were right, but then again he was one of only a handful of male teachers that was under the age of fifty, so it wasn’t exactly stiff competition. “Alright,” he started, walking around his desk and leaning against it. “We start our service project tomorrow morning and I wanted to lay some ground rules. Which you are all going to follow without issue because you’re my best students or you wouldn’t be allowed this opportunity, right?” he checked. They all laughed and nodded. “Excellent. First, dress code. No t-shirts and no jeans. You need to look nice, but since we’re going to a children’s hospital you need to be able to function. So that means no skirts or heels, ladies,” he paused to make eye contact with the three girls in the room.

                “Can we wear tennis shoes?” Mica, a young man who was excelling in Agron’s third block ancient civilizations class asked.

                “Good question, yes, actually I recommend it. There will be a lot of walking,” Agron replied. Collective groans and frowns greeted him. “If you guys want to sit all day, you can stay in class all week, that’s fine with me,” he teased. Their eyes widened and they quickly dismissed the thought. “That’s what I thought. Rule two, you need to be on your best behavior, which means no cussing or inappropriate hand gestures, no pushing each other or wandering off. Just do what you’re told,” he waited for another round of nods. “There will probably be rules about how you interact with the patients, like what you can and can’t say and what kind of activities you can do, but we’ll get into that more once we get there. The last thing would be to remember to either pack your lunch or bring money for the cafeteria,” he finished. “Any questions?”

                “How much money?” Alison, a very smart but very shy girl from eighth block asked.

                “No more than ten dollars,” Agron guessed. “Is that all?” he checked one more time for questions. They all just stared back at him. “Ok, then get out of here. I’ll see you in the morning. We meet here at first bell!” he reminded as they all rushed out the door.

* * *

                Nasir Mussan scrolled through his emails looking for the list he was sent. As Director of Volunteers, it was his job to know who was coming to volunteer and when. Then he had to figure out which floor they would be on and what they would be doing. At the children’s hospital, volunteers ran the gift shop and the play rooms as well as the family lounge. They also had roles playing one on one with isolation patients or taking patients to and from tests and appointments. For the next two weeks, he had a group of six high school students and their teacher coming in for a service project. He took care to create a rotating schedule so the students could experience every job. Now if he could just find the list of their names and their teacher. Mr. R…. R something.  His eyes caught on the high school’s domain name in his list of emails. He clicked it open. Mr. Rihn. Agron Rihn, according to the signature. With all the history degrees he had listed behind his name he was probably a stuffy older gentleman who runs his classes like an army boot camp. It was going to be an interesting few weeks.

* * *

                The six teenagers sighed as Mr. Rihn went over the rules, again. They heard them yesterday, before they left that morning, in the van on the way over and now as they stood in the entrance way waiting for name tags, he went over them yet again.

                “Mr. R, we get it,” Kory, one of the two chatty girls, snapped, not bothering to hide her exasperation.  

                “You better,” he retorted, pulling a funny face, causing her to laugh and roll her eyes.

                Once they had all been vetted by security, they were escorted to an office on the third floor. Toys, craft supplies, and video game systems lined the perimeter and filled the corners. Bright posters and pictures of children littered the walls. A large table took up the center of the room. Save the security guard who dropped them off and a young blonde rushing out the door as they walked in, there was only one person in the room. Waves of thick dark hair hid their face as they bent over a rather intricate looking schedule, making edits in pencil. If Agron was a betting man, he would guess that would be the woman he had been in touch with.

                “Um, excuse me?” Argon started. When the person at the table looked up, Agron noticed two things. One: that was most definitely a man. Two: that man was most definitely the most beautiful man he had ever seen. His throat went dry as the man tucked his raven locks behind one ear, and pushed up from the table. He was had a startlingly small stature, but it did nothing to deter his beauty. Between taking in the rich brown skin, easy smile, and sultry eyes, Agron was having trouble remembering why he was there. The restless shuffle of the students behind him brought him back to planet earth. “I’m looking for Mrs. Mussan,” he managed.

                “Mrs. Mussan?” the small dark man chuckled, his laugh making Agron a little dizzy. “I would say you’re looking for my mother, but since she passed away shortly after I was born, I guess you’re stuck with me. Nasir Mussan. _Mr._ Mussan,” he retorted. Agron blushed crimson and fought hard to ignore the six laughing teenagers over his shoulder.

                “I am so sorry,” he let out in one breath. He should have known better than to assign gender after just an email, especially with a name like Nasir. The man in front of him waved away his apology.

                “It happens all the time. It must be the hair,” Nasir said with a shrug, his dark eyes twinkling. “Is it safe to assume you are Mr. Rihn and these are the kids from Western High?” he said with a teasing smile. Whatever he had been expecting Agron Rihn to look like, this wasn’t it. The man was of exceptional stature, standing nearly two heads taller than him, with broad shoulders and long limbs. He was on the darker side of sun kissed and had the most captivating set of green eyes. And the way he used the back of his hand to stroke at his scruffy shadow of a beard when he was nervous did funny things to Nasir’s insides.

                “Um, yes, nice to meet you Mr. Mussan,” Agron finally remembered his manners and extended his hand for a hand shake. Nasir’s hand was warm and soft as his much larger one engulfed it for a quick shake.

                “Call me Nasir. And what are your names?” Nasir addressed the students. In turn they each said their names. The boys being Micah, Leo, and Alex and the girls, Alison, Kory, and Felicia. “Wonderful, I will try to remember those, but it may take me a day or so,” he smiled. “Everyone take a seat and we’ll get started.” Nasir spent the next half hour explaining the different jobs of the volunteers and how each student would get to try each job. He also went over hospital policies not only for health and safety but for legal issues as well. Finally, he paired each student up with a current volunteer and sent them on their way. Agron enjoyed watching the little man talk and was constantly reminding himself to actually listen to what Nasir was saying. After the students left, Agron found he suddenly didn’t know what to do with himself. Technically, he was there to volunteer as well, but Nasir had not assigned him a job. To be honest, he wouldn’t mind sitting in the office and watching the man work all day. However, that hardly seemed appropriate. He ducked his head to hide his blush and riffled through the paperwork he’d brought with him, knowing Nasir would probably need it. Plus, it seemed more productive than trying not to drool at the Director of Volunteers.

                Nasir finally allowed himself to take a breath as Agron busied himself with his papers. The man’s eyes had been on him constantly since he walked in the office. He was trying to discern if it was a gaze of judgment or interest. The pink tinge to the man’s cheeks led him to the believe that latter, but that could also be from the earlier Mrs./Mr. incident. However, that didn’t stop his stomach from flipping at the thought that this gorgeous man could potentially be interested in him. He swiftly pushed past the feeling. First off, this was his workplace, he needed to remain professional, secondly Agron was there with his students trying to do his job as well, and lastly, the big one, Nasir had no idea if Agron batted for his team. Even if he did, again, he was there with his students and he probably had no desire to flaunt his personal life in front of six teenagers who are supposed to respect him for the rest of the school year.

                “I’m sure you’ll probably need these,” Agron’s voice broke through his thoughts as a stack of papers was pressed into his hand. Nasir blinked up at the man, wondering when he’d gotten so close. His presence was almost overwhelming between his large frame and the waves of heat and the crisp clean scent rolling off of him. Nasir looked back down at the papers.

                “Oh, yes, thanks,” Nasir replied awkwardly. He flipped through them absently, more to take a moment to collect himself rather than checking them for accuracy. “Ok,” he mumbled, tossing the papers on the table. “I figured you would want to keep an eye on your kids, at least for the first day, so I thought we could take a tour of the campus. That way we can round on all the volunteer run areas,” he laid out, internally berating himself for said plan. He couldn’t be too hard on himself though because it was a good plan if he was going to be stuck with a straight laced older gentleman like he originally thought, however now faced with the golden giant of sex itself, the plan seemed more like torture.

                “That sounds great,” Agron responded, smiling wide enough to expose two dimples that made Nasir week in the knees. Nasir had been right about one thing, it was going to be an interesting few weeks.

                “Let’s go to the ground floor and work our way up,” Nasir suggested as he locked the office door. Agron nodded and motioned for the smaller man to lead the way. They didn’t get more than a few feet down the hallway before they were approached by an exotic dark skinned woman and the way Nasir’s face lit up at the sight of her made Agron’s heart ache. He wasn’t sure why, he’d only met this man an hour ago and besides knowing his name, his job title and the fact that his mother is dead, he knew next to nothing about him, including his sexual preference. However, he did seize the opportunity gained by Nasir’s distraction. His eyes raked over the man for what had to be the millionth time, taking in the slim fit of his khaki pants, the stretch of his Henley over his shoulder blades, and the way he shook his shoulder length hair out of his face as he talked. He swallowed thickly and quickly turned his thoughts to the quiz he needed to write for his Modern World class. If he didn’t stop staring at this guy, things were going to get more embarrassing than they already had been.

                The highlight of Nasir’s day was usually running into his best friend Naevia. Today was no exception, especially with his introduction to Agron Rihn.

                “I thought you said this week was going to be crazy for you,” she grinned.

                “It is,” he replied, wondering how she missed the hulking man hot on his heels. He glanced behind him only to see Agron was no longer with him, but instead had casually propped himself up against the wall near the office door. Nasir swallowed thickly. Damn, that man looked like he just walked out of a photo shoot. Naevia followed her friends gaze, quickly settling on the man against the wall.

                “Who is…” she trailed off realizing exactly who that was. “Don’t tell me that is the teacher you have been bitching about all week,” she laughed. The look on Nasir’s face was enough of an answer. “I thought you said he was a crotchety old man? That man is not old and as far as crotch—“

                “Naevia!” Nasir blushed. “You have been around Crixus and his vulgarity too long,” he frowned.

                “Oh hush, I love my vulgar barbarian,” she smiled brightly. Nasir rolled his eyes. Crixus was not a bad guy, per say, he was just the exact opposite of Naevia. Where she was soft and sweet, he was rough and scary as hell. However, Naevia was his whole world and he treated her as such. That was good enough for Nasir. “Anyway, what do you have planned for Professor Studly?” she directed the conversation back to Nasir’s interesting guest.

                “He’s not a professor, just a teacher, and I’m taking him on my rounds today,” Nasir mentioned, deciding to ignore the “studly” part of Naevia’s nickname.

                “One on one time, smart move,” she said with a nod.

                “No! I had this plan in place when I still thought he was going to be a boring old man, and if I could think of something else to do with him, I would,” Nasir corrected.

                “I can think of a few things,” Naevia smirked. Nasir scowled. He walked right into that one.

                “Nae, I have to go. If not he’ll come over here and invade my personal space with his broad shoulders, breathtaking smile, and twinkling eyes and my knees will go wobbly again. I don’t have time for that,” Nasir groaned.

                “So you are interested,” she laughed. Nasir rolled his eyes yet again. Of course he was interested, him and everyone else with a pulse. “I want to meet him,” she decided, grabbing Nasir’s wrist and tugging him back towards Agron.

                Agron straightened up as the woman Nasir was talking to walked in his direction with Nasir not far behind.

                “Mr. Rihn, this is our foundation coordinator, Naevia Lareau. I work a lot with her especially when there is a large toy donation, celebrity visitors, or special events,” Nasir introduced the two.

                “Agron Rihn,” Agron greeted, shaking Naevia’s hand. He discreetly studied her for any hints as to what kind of relationship she had with Nasir outside of being coworkers. “I’m here with a group of my students working on their service project. Nasir was just showing me around the facility,” he smiled.

                “As far as tour guides go, Nasir is the best we’ve got,” she replied, slinging her arm around Nasir’s shoulder. Nasir fought the urge to elbow his friend in the ribs. “But I’ve got a meeting in administration, so I’ve got to run. See you later, Nas and you too Mr. Rihn,” she finished, with a little wave and a smile too smug to mean anything good.

                “Sorry about that, are you ready to go?” Nasir asked.

                “Lead on,” Agron nodded.   

                They had made it to elevators when Nasir’s work phone rang, he nearly groaned out loud when he saw it was Naevia. Hadn’t she had enough fun at his expense?

                “This is Nasir,” he answered politely.

                “He is so into you,” she stated.

                “o-ok,” he stammered, glancing sideways at Agron to see if he could hear the conversation.

                “He was definitely trying to figure out if you and I are an item and the way his face lit up when he said your name…goodness,” she continued.

                “I’ll get back to you about that later today,” he continued to keep his responses vague, hoping his face stayed just as neutral.

                “You are such a dork. Now, I really have a meeting, talk later,” Naevia ended the call.

                Agron could tell Nasir was fighting hard to keep from getting flustered by the phone call, if the way he nervously twisted the ends of his hair and pulled bottom lip between his teeth as he hooked his phone back on his waistband were any indication.

                “Everything ok?” he asked causally. Nasir’s head snapped up, startled. For such a big guy, Agron had a way of fading into the background. Either that or Nasir was thinking entirely too hard.

                “Oh, yeah. Just a minor curve ball, nothing I can’t handle,” Nasir responded with a wide grin. He steeled his resolve and decided the information Naevia had given him was null and void. At the moment he had a job to do and so did Argon any attraction that may or may not be between them would have to be pushed aside.

                Agron ended up spending the whole morning following Nasir around. The compassion Nasir exhibited when he interacted with patients and families took Agron’s interest in the man from purely physical to something deeper. Once he understood the full reach and responsibility of Nasir’s position, he was impressed with the ease in which he handled it all. He knew the man probably had a million and half extremely pressing things to take care of, but he never rushed. He took time to listen to every question he was asked, whether it be from a volunteer, a patient family or one of Agron’s students and gave each of them the best answer he could or sent them to someone who could help them better. There were times Nasir even took it upon himself to grab things for patients or track down a nurse when one was needed. It was nothing short of inspiring and Agron could feel himself falling even harder for the little man he’d only met hours earlier.

                Once he started the tour, Nasir was so in his element he almost forgot about the pulling attraction he had to the giant man following him. Almost. Every once in a while he would catch Agron’s eye or manage to make him laugh and the butterflies would take flight in his stomach again. By lunch though, he had them pretty well tamed. Now if he could just go have lunch with Naevia as usual and send Agron to help clean toys all afternoon, he would be home free. At least for today. He led Agron to the café and stopped just by the entry way where he could see the group of tables where the volunteers usually sat. Agron’s students were all among the fray.

                “I imagine you’re probably hungry, so I’ll let you eat and I will meet up with you and the kids after lunch,” Nasir announced.

                “You’re not going to eat?” Agron wondered. He had had such a wonderful morning with Nasir, he was sad to see it end.

                “I usually have a working lunch with Naevia. It’s when we do our best brainstorming,” Nasir replied with a bright smile.

                “Ok then, I’ll see you later,” Agron wasn’t going to push, especially when the man smiled like that. What he wouldn’t give to be Naevia for a day. Obviously she and Nasir were close. He could tell they weren’t more than friends, but they were probably the best of friends. Even after just a few hours, he envied that relationship. He waved at the little man and turned on his heel to find something to eat and reconvene with his students. He was anxious to hear about their first few hours of volunteer work.

                “Did you get his number?” Kory asked, coming up behind her teacher in the food line.

                “Excuse me?” Agron returned, his eyebrows crawling up his forehead.

                “Nasir! The hot little dude you’ve been hanging out with all morning,” Kory provided. “We’re taking bets. Did you get his number?” she repeated.

                “That’s is absolutely none of your business. And what do you mean you’re taking bets? You guys are my best students. I picked you for this project because I thought you guys would enjoy it and could handle it as adults. Not so you could take bets on how long it takes me to get the phone number of the pretty volunteer coordinator,” he huffed.

                “So you do think he’s pretty,” Kory noted. Agron rolled his eyes. He should have known his students would pick up on the way he was pining for Nasir. They were high school students, who knew pining better than they did? “But you’ve haven’t gotten his number, bummer,” the girl continued, having obviously read between the lines. “Maybe there’s something we can do to help!” She all the sudden got very excited and bounced away.

                “Stay out of it, Kory! And tell Felicia to stay out of it too!” he called after her. She absently waved him off. He groaned out loud. Sometimes he wondered why he chose to teach high school students. It would be easier to control kindergarteners.

* * *

                “We’re not talking about him,” Nasir cut Naevia off before she could even ask.

                “Come on, Nas. That’s no fun,” she whined.

                “But there’s really nothing to talk about. I don’t know anything more about him than the fact that he is a high school history teacher with a smile that takes my breath away,” Nasir retorted. Naevia pouted.

                “But you will tell me if you learn anything else?” she begged. Nasir rolled his eyes. “I’m telling you, Nas. There’s something about this guy.” Nasir just shook his head. He wasn’t about to tell her that every vacant corner of his brain was already full of thoughts of this guy. He decided for the time being to focus on his lunch and the thick stack of papers he needed Naevia’s signature on.           

* * *

 

  At first, Nasir wasn’t exactly sure what he had walked in on when he returned to his office after lunch. Agron was pacing the small room talking animatedly while his students watched in rapt attention. Agron’s already large presence increased tenfold as he stepped into the teacher roll. Nasir expected to feel stifled, but instead he was drawn in. Agron subtly commanded the attention of his students with the use of direct eye contact and a way of speaking that made them want to listen. Nasir caught the last few sentences of his speech.

                “For this service project to be successful, it has to mean something to you and it has to have taught you something. I want to know what those things are. I want you guys to keep a journal of what you experienced here.  It doesn’t have to be a novel, but I want you guys to put some time and effort into it. If anyone writes “It was cool, we got to miss school,” you immediately get a zero. This is worth as much as a test, so keep that in mind. I made a list of helpful questions about your time here, you can either address them or write something on your own, I don’t care either way,” he said, sliding a paper to each kid. Nasir expected the kids to moan and complain about the assignment, but instead they all eagerly took the paper handed to them, some quick to jot down notes while others carefully pieced thoughts together. Obviously Agron wasn’t lying when he said in his email that he was bringing his best students. “If there is something fresh in your mind, feel free to take a few moments to write it down. If you prefer to reflect later, you can do that too,” he added. “Nasir is probably going to want you all back on your floors at some point, though,” he turned, smiling at the man he noticed had entered the room while he was talking.

                “Oh, no, take your time. No rush,” Nasir allowed. He blushed a little at the sudden attention and nervously tucked a strand of hair behind his ear. Agron stepped closer to him.

                “Sorry, I kind of commandeered your office,” Agron chuckled.

                “You’re fine. If you would’ve commandeered my computer, we might have an issue. Unless of course you want to sort through my hundreds of emails,” Nasir teased.

                “I’ll leave that to the expert,” Agron declined, winking at the smaller man. Nasir coughed to cover the catch in his breath and averted his eyes from Agron’s once again. Agron looked back at his students, catching Kory’s eye. She had been watching his interaction with Nasir. She made a phone with her hand and held it up to her ear. He rolled his eyes at her. He should’ve known better than to believe she would actually stay out of it.

                As each student finished organizing their thoughts, they filtered out of the room and back to their assignments. Nasir awkwardly straightened up the random piles of things in his office, noticing he and Agron were once again alone. He went back and forth, trying to decide if he wanted to send the beautiful giant to clean toys or take the opportunity to get to know him better.

                “So…” he started, wincing as his voice cracked. He cleared his throat. “Your students really listen to you,” he finished lamely. Agron chuckled.

                “These ones do, most of the rest don’t,” he remarked. “You’re only seeing the best of the best. I can barely keep all of my other students awake. And that’s on a good day.”

                “I doubt that,” Nasir replied to himself, or so he thought.

                “Why do you say that?” Agron questioned. Nasir’s eyes shot up to meet Agron’s, mortified he had actually said the words out loud.

                “Oh…well…what I mean…” he stammered. “I mean, you just kinda command attention but not in like an overbearing way. It’s like people are just drawn to you…” he explained without thinking. The smirk on Agron’s face had him replaying it all in his head, his eyes widening in realization. “I’m so sorry, Mr. Rhin,” he blurted, hoping he hadn’t given the wrong impression. However, it appeared whatever the impression he gave was, it was one Agron was very interested in.

                “What about you, are you drawn to me?” Agron couldn’t resist, taking a step closer to crowd the smaller man.

                “I, um, I have quite a bit of work to get done before I go to a meeting this afternoon, so if you wanted to go see if the students needed any help…”Nasir quickly changed the subject. Agron nodded, getting the hint and moving out of Nasir’s personal space.

                “Alright, I’ll see you tomorrow, Nasir,” he smiled. Once again, that smile nearly took Nasir’s breath away.

                “See you tomorrow, Mr. Rhin,” Nasir replied.

                “You can call me Agron,” Agron mentioned.

                “Goodbye, Mr. Rhin,”Nasir repeated, hoping to broadcast the fact that he wanted things to remain professional. However, the twinkle in Agron’s eyes told Nasir whatever he was thinking was anything but professional.

Nasir sighed as soon and the door shut behind Agron. He willed the flutter in his stomach to stop and his heart rate to slow. He would never survive the two weeks at this rate.

* * *

                “I think I’ve met the man I want to marry,” Agron admitted absently as he dribbled the basketball and tossed it into the hoop. He’d spent the remainder of the day on the floors with his students. Nasir needed to answer some emails and make some phone calls so Agron left him to it. However, that didn’t keep Agron from thinking about the little man. Even now as he stood in his brother’s driveway for their weekly basketball game, his mind was on Nasir.

                “The hell, man?” Duro asked, well aware his brother was not dating anyone.

                “At the hospital today, the Director of Volunteers,” Agron said, shrugged one shoulder and bouncing the ball to his brother. Duro nodded. It was very strange for Agron to make such a bold statement. He had dated on and off, but never anything very serious. Duro always assumed that having a partner was not a priority for Agron. However, the fact that his big brother went straight from his double majoring in history and education to mastering in education and then subsequently mastering in history, most of it while teaching at least part time, didn’t leave a whole lot of time for dating. So, to hear Agron have such an interest in a guy after just one meeting made Duro believe he might have been wrong about his brother.

                “Is he gay?” Duro asked the obvious question, passing the ball back. Agron made a face and reached to catch the wide bounce.

                “I want to say yes, but it’s not like he has a sign.  Kory thinks he is,” Agron replied.

                “My Kory?” Duro snorted. Duro taught three types of physical education and a health class at the same high school as Agron. Kory was the captain of the girls’ soccer team that Duro coached. Duro coached a few of the school's teams, which Agron loved. His little brother was an excellent coach. But away games and weekend practices meant Duro didn’t have time for Agron’s rugby team, much to Agron’s chagrin and Duro’s wife’s delight. Agron and Duro had been playing rugby together since they lived in Germany as little boys, it was weird to play without him. However, their lives were no less intertwined, between family functions, working together, and weekly dinners, they saw each other plenty.

                “Yes, she was dogging me to get his number all day,” Agron said with an exasperated sigh and an exaggerated eye roll.

                “Well, did you get it?” Duro asked eagerly.

                “No, I can’t even get him to quit calling me Mr. Rihn,” Agron admitted sourly.

                “Well, how are you supposed to marry this man if you can’t get his number, Ag?” Duro teased.

                “Shut it, dumb shit,” Agron growled, smacking the ball out of his little brother’s hands.

                “No need for name calling,” Duro stuck his tongue out. “Tell me about this guy,” he encouraged.

                “He’s really short,” Agron blurted. He furrowed his brow, wondering why that was the first thing to tumble out of his mouth. When he thought about Nasir the first thing that came to mind was his tentative smile and warm eyes. Next was his long waves of dark hair that just begged to be touch. Thoughts of his stature came much later, in the brief moments when Agron allowed himself to think about how if he ever got Nasir into his arms, he could tuck him perfectly beneath his chin. He turned away from his brother so he couldn’t see him blush at the thought.

                “Like midget short?” Duro wondered.

                “No, like not a giant short, five foot something,” Agron retorted, making a face. “Dark skin, dark eyes, long dark hair. The greatest smile and an infectious personality,” he rattled off, his expression going soft.

                “You have got it bad. Next you’re going to tell me how dreamy he is and that you’ve doodled his name all over your notebook,” Duro mocked.

                “You’re an asshole,” Agron grunted. Duro sent him a cheeky smile and shrugged. He motioned for Agron to toss him the ball. Instead, Agron tossed the ball over his brother’s head. He was rewarded with the satisfying swish of the ball falling through the net.

                “Hey handsome, you staying for dinner?” Duro’s wife Amelia asked as she stepped out on the front porch.

                “If you’ll have me, sweetheart,” Agron replied, stepping up to kiss his sister-in-law on the cheek.

                “Why don’t you ever call me ‘handsome’?” Duro pouted.

                “Well, if you were as handsome as your brother, I would,” she teased. Agron had liked Amelia from the first time Duro had introduced them. She was good for his brother. She kept him grounded and had a real knack for taming Duro’s tendency to run a little wild. However, it was a running joke that Duro was lucky Agron was gay because not only was he the prettier Rihn brother, he was also the smart one and given the chance, Amelia would upgrade. It was all in good fun though, mostly at Duro’s expense. Everyone involved knew: A. There would never be a day when Agron wasn’t gay and B. Amelia wouldn’t trade Duro for the world. He was her other half.

                “You guys are so mean,” Duro whined.

* * *

                Agron decided to spend time actually working with his students the following day. That’s why it surprised Nasir to find the teacher leaning against his office door when lunch time rolled around.

                “I have been given strict instructions not to allow you to eat lunch alone,” Agron addressed him with one of his winning smiles. Nasir stared blankly at him as he processed that statement. It finally clicked that Naevia had an offsite meeting and that she must have put the bug in Agron’s ear. He was going to kill her.

                “Oh, ok,” he replied awkwardly, unlocking the door and pushing inside.

                “Hey Nasir, I didn’t mean to put you on the spot. I can go eat with my kids,” Agron offered, noticing how flustered the man was.

                “No, no, it’s fine. Have a seat,” Nasir smiled. Yes, he was going to kill Naevia, but she would never forgive him if he squandered this opportunity.

                Nasir and Agron spent most of their lunch batting stories about their jobs back and forth. As Agron finished his last story, he couldn’t ignore the smirk on Nasir’s face.

                “What?” he asked, wondering if he had food on his face and wiping his mouth just in case.

                “Nothing, you’re just not at all what I expected,” Nasir laughed. “With all those letters behind your name, I was expecting someone twice your age who was very stuffy,” he explained.

                “Well, I thought you were a woman, so yeah….” Agron replied, his cheeks going pink with the memory.

                “Sorry to disappoint,” Nasir shrugged. He had a feeling Agron was gay, but a little confirmation never hurt.

                “Not as disappointed as you may think,” Agron winked. Nasir blushed and focused on cleaning up his meal.

                “I am about to be late to what I’m sure will be a stimulating wagons and wheelchair meeting,” Nasir started with a crooked grin. “So I will see you later…”

                “Agron,” Agron interrupted.

                “…Mr. Rhin,”Nasir finished, grabbing his phone and the folder off his desk. “Pull the door closed when you leave,” he tossed over his shoulder.

                Agron stared at the door as it closed behind Nasir. Every time the man refused to call him by his first name, it felt like rejection. However, Nasir’s body language and open behavior during their lunch was saying the exact opposite.

* * *

                “So does having lunch with Nasir count as a date?” Kory asked on the ride back to school. Agron tightened his grip on the steering wheel and glared at the girl in the rearview mirror.

                “Kory,” he warned.

                “Hey, I just want to know what I’m supposed to tell your brother,” she smirked.

                “Who I have lunch with and whether it’s a date or not is none of Duro’s business and it’s certainly none of your business, my young friend,” Agron replied.

                “He still won’t call you by your first name, will he?” Kory pouted.

                “Kory, you don’t stay out of it, you’ll stay at school,” Agron growled.

                “Crabby Patty,” Kory mumbled under her breath. Agron glared at her again.

* * *

                “I’m going to kill you,” Nasir said as the call connected.

                “Oh honey, is he straight?” Naevia crooned.

                “No, but you trapped me!” Nasir squeaked.

                “Was it really so awful?” Naevia wondered.

                “Well, no, but you trapped me!” he repeated.

                “I helped you, love. Helped you,” Naevia corrected. “Face it, Nas. You like this guy. And I know your professionalism is not going to let you see him as more than a coworker, but this is a way you can at least get to know him,” Naevia pointed out.

                “It doesn’t matter, Nae. He’s there with his students. They’re going to know he’s having lunch with me. I’m sure he has a reputation to uphold,”

                “Nasir! Do you have to deny yourself everything?!” Naevia groaned in frustration. “Just have lunch with the guy. Hell, I’ll even have lunch with you guys if that makes you feel better.”

                “It really doesn’t,” Nasir sighed. He really liked Agron. _Really_ liked him. And it would be so easy to fall for him, but the fact that they technically worked together stood in his way.

* * *

                Agron dropped his work bag on the counter and went to change into his workout clothes. He debated whether to go to the gym or just go for a run. After his conversation with Kory on the way home, he wanted to be alone. So a run it was. However, before he went he shot Duro a text message.

                “Why do you have to be such an asshole?”

                When he returned from his run, he had two missed calls and numerous texts from Duro, pleading his case. Agron was tempted to ignore all of them, but the text from his sister-in-law made him reconsider.

                _Please forgive your brother. He’s an idiot, but he means well._

                He dialed Duro’s number and waited for the call to connect.

                “Look, you need to keep Kory out of my personal business. This guy is skittish as is, I don’t need meddling teenagers.” He mentioned gruffly.

                “I know, I know, but you never talk about guys. Never. I don’t even remember the last time you had a date. I just wanted to help, ”Duro pleaded.

                “Well, help by staying out of it. Like I said, it may be a non-starter. I’m getting the feeling he’s interested, but he has some serious walls up,” Agron sighed.

                “I’m rooting for you, bro,” his brother encouraged.

                “As long as you root from afar,” Agron mumbled, ending the call.

* * *

                The remainder of the week went smoothly. Agron spent the days working with his students but he and Nasir continued to meet for lunch. It was nice to meet on their own accord rather than being forced together by nosy friends, family, or students. Things weren’t leaning as romantically as Agron would have liked, as Nasir was still referring to him as Mr. Rhin, but at least they were developing some kind of a friendship.

                “So, I guess I won’t see you until next week, Agron,” Nasir mentioned as he gathered his trash from lunch on Friday. Agron felt his body flood with warmth as Nasir addressed him by his first name.

Confidence bolstered by the gesture, Agron grinned and said,” It doesn’t have to be that way. I know of a great place for drinks on a Saturday night.”

Nasir looked stricken. He’d tried so hard to keep things professional all week. Yes, they’d had lunch together every day but he made a point to only address Agron as Mr. Rhin and not respond to his flirtations, of which there were many. However, today as they finished their meal and the thought of not seeing the man he was very much enjoying his time with for two whole days, the name just slipped out. He knew he made a mistake the second he’d done it and now the man had asked him out. This was what he was trying to avoid. He didn’t want to have to outright reject the man, but his sense of duty required it.

“I…can’t,” he stammered.

“Saturday no good?” Agron tried to hold out hope, but the read he was getting off the smaller man wasn’t very encouraging.

“No, I just can’t go out with you. I’m sorry,” Nasir replied, quickly gathering his remaining trash and taking his leave.


End file.
